the various afghan sides are talking to each other about the end of the american part of the war and what it means for them. president obama listed ending the afghanistan war first on the list of -- on his list of priorities for the things he is going to work on post fiscal cliff at this new start of his second term. the outgoing commanding general for the u.s. in afghanistan, general allen, the other guy whose e-mails are being investigated in connection with the sex scandal that caused general petraeus to resign, general allen, his outgoing recommendation as he leaves as commanding general of the war in afghanistan of course we should leave tens of thousands of americans there as long as possible until we finally have to leave at the end of 2014, and then we should leave tens of thousands of americans there even thereafter. naturally that is his recommendation. when is the last time a general asked to please have fewer resources to work with. but however many americans get left in afghanistan in some training capacity in the long run after the end of 2014, after combat operations a